A Neo-Classical House

This is a Paragraph 80 design for a fine site in South Cambridgeshire. The site has an interesting planning history, with an approved design for a highly contemporary building. Our client had ultimately decided that he would prefer to build a classical house and approached our practice to design a replacement.

Drawing on the neo-classical architectural tradition that finds deep roots in nearby Cambridge, and in the East Anglian work of Sir John Soane and his successors, we developed a plan for a central block with two flanking wings, designed in a restrained and austere language, suitable for the plain and itself austere Cambridgeshire countryside.

Walls are in lime render with natural stone dressings and construction was to be in a highly innovative hemcrete.  The house sits in a regenerative, productive landscape, with large groves of fast-growing coppice woodland which provides fuel for the heating systems.

Initial engagement with South Cambridgeshire planning officers suggested that the council felt that a classical design was not appropriate for the site and the Paragraph 80 route, and our client decided not to proceed further.

A classical pavilion

For a hilltop site in Dorset, this is an unexecuted design for a tower pavilion – planned over six stories to provide significant living accommodation, but with the intention of appearing like a fine classical temple-folly in a sweeping landscape.  On the piano nobile is a large, double-height reception room with wide views across the landscape to south, east and west.

The language is that of simple classical Palladian architecture, with strong echoes of William Kent’s Euston Temple, and Worcester Lodge at Badminton; an almost austere, tower-like language chosen for the particular site, which would have revealed significant classical riches within.

A Queen Anne House

We designed this new house for a generous parkland setting on the beautiful Suffolk/Essex borders, in Constable country.

The clients had a clear vision for a country house in the classic Queen Anne/early Georgian tradition, with high ceilings and tall sash windows, stone dressings and soft red brick walls set above a raised basement storey. They had enjoyed developing initial thoughts about plans and elevations using pencil and graph paper – a rewarding process that was extremely helpful for us in providing a visual brief.

We worked closely together to take forward their brief and create the final design for the house and outbuildings, resolving many interesting design issues along the way and enjoying a gentle and thoroughly fulfilling engagement.

It was gratifying when the project, despite its considerable scale, received planning approval under delegated approval in 2017, and we are now commencing with construction drawings and wider detailed site design.